When your hard disk has failed, it is better to leave the recovery to a professional data recovery company for example
MjM Data Recovery Ltd in the UK.
Hard disk drives can fail for a multitude of reasons and the symptoms for the failure are few.
The broken hard drive will .
- Spin as usual but your data is inaccessible - Logical Problem
- Not Spinning – Probably Electronics Problem or seized motor.
- Spinning but makes clunking noises – Possibly a Servo Tracking Failure
- Spinning but make creaking sounds – Potential head crash or motor failure.
When the hard disk drive is running as normal but you cant see your data, then the liklihood is that there is a logical problem. Did scan-disk run during start up?, or did you delete some files recently? Has your computer come under virus attack?
When the hard disk drive is not spinning, then your hard disk will need either electronics work it or will need repairing in a clean room. MjM Data Recovery Ltd have the facility to recover from either of these problems.
If the hard disk drive is making ticking sounds then this points to a more serious problem and will most likely need opening up in a clean room to find out precisely what has goner wrong. Never open a hard disk yourself, especially if the data has any value.
When the hard drive is making other sounds then this is indicitive of a major failure. More than likely a head crash or spindle failure.
Whatever has happened, there is still a chance of recovering the data if the drive is sent to data recovery specialists.